Elitch Gardens now hiring zombies

How's your unearthly moan? What about your awkward, broken shuffle? Do you feel comfortable working while covered in blood (okay, fake blood)? Elitch Gardens is looking for a few good zombies -- along with a handful of werewolves, ghosts, devils and other evil dead things, too.

The amusement park's Fright Fest starts October 5, but before they can kick off the Halloween season, they need to hire 75 actors to supply the scares. That could mean manning a spot in one of the haunted attractions or even wandering the park as a free-roaming ghoul. The bulk of those hired will be transformed into the living dead, but if you're a hairy brute with a wicked howl, you might get cast as a werewolf instead. "We will match the actors to fit the personalities of the characters we need for the haunted attractions," says Debbie Evans, spokeswoman for Elitch Gardens. "Somebody that really has that undead shuffle down would definitely be a zombie, but somebody that's a little bit bigger and really take on that lopsided gait of a werewolf, then that's what they would be cast as."

If you're looking for Halloween-themed work but can't see yourself spending your evenings wearing a neck-wound prosthesis to scare teenagers, Elitch's also needs a handful of carpenters, painters and makeup artists to help pull the illusion together in time. If you've got the skills, send a resume and contact information to EG-HR@elitchgardens.com by September 28.

If you aren't looking to pump up your monstrous resume and just want to enjoy the show, Fright Fest runs Friday through Sunday from October 5 through October 28. Tickets are $43.99 for guests 48" and over and $29.99 for guests under 48" or over 61 years of age. Kids under three are free, and tickets can be purchased online for a discount.

Evans promises the daytime scares are kid-friendly, but things get darker once the sun goes down. And even if the walking dead aren't your thing, there's always the more mundane scares you get from the rides at night. "A lot of people find it very exciting to ride roller coasters in the dark," Evans says. "Aside from all the Halloween events, it's also really cool just to ride in the dark. It's a whole different kind of scare, and you never know when you're going to find yourself sitting next to a zombie."

Cory Casciato is a Denver-based writer with a passion for the geeky, from old science fiction movies to brand-new video games. His work has appeared in The A.V. Club, Topless Robot, Colorado Public Radio, The Zombie Research Society and, of course, Westword.